The present invention relates generally to computing systems and more specifically to techniques for controlling copying of logical volumes within a computer storage system.
Modern computing systems can comprise a plurality of logical volumes within a mass storage system. Mass storage systems can be implemented in a variety of form factors, including DASD, optical storage media, tape storage media, and the like. Often, it is desirable to perform copies of content from one logical volume to another logical volume in a mass storage system. A conventional method for performing such a copy is known as a REMOTE COPY function. In the REMOTE COPY function, host channels are used for transferring the copied data. A control unit, behaving as if it were a processing unit, sends data stored in a logical volume via a host channel. The data is received by another host channel and written to the logical volume. Thus, a copy of the logical volume is created.
When the copy function is executed in one control unit, a plurality of host channels is employed. Therefore, the number of host channels available for the normal host connection is decreased. Such conventional methods typically burden computational resources, such as host channels, during the copy process.
What is really needed are techniques for copying information from one logical volume to another without burdening host channel resources for connecting between the control unit and processing units.